DALAM KAJIAN

PASCAKOLONIAL

The Concept of Culture

1.

Culture refers to the patterns of

behavior & belief common to
members of a society.
It is the rules for understanding & generating

customary behavior.
It includes: beliefs, norms, values,
assumptions, expectations & plans for
action.

The Concept of Culture

2.

Culture is learned.
It is not an innate characteristic of the
individual.
People learn to divide the color spectrum
into red, orange, yellow, green, blue,
indigo & violet. (This is the case with time
& space & people & every aspect of what
is so-called reality)

The Concept of Culture

3.

Culture is shared.
Members of the same society came to
share certain customs & tend to agree on
the basic characteristics of reality.

The Concept of Culture

4.

Culture is an adaptation
Cultures do not arise fortuitously.
Cultures develop always to understand
particular environments & to cope with the
problems environments present.
Culture defines the situation for every people
in the world & provides economic & social
solutions.
Cultures are adaptations to environments, but
there is no guarantee that adaptation will last/
prove advantageous in the long run.

The Concept of Culture

5.

Every culture is a dynamic system that

changes continuously over time.
Changes can also be dramatic & extensive.
Cultural changes which derive from changes
in technology are often far-reaching.

6.

The most difficult culture to study is your

own.

Values & World View

1.

Values are conceptions of what is desirable.

As assumptions about what is & what ought to be

they shape every aspect of peoples lives.

e.g.:
the differences between male & female in
some countries.
the separation of male & female + the
ascription of symbolic value to each in New
Guinea Highlands
the enculturation of growing up male & female
in the U.S. + some other countries in the
world.

Values & World View

2.

The sum total of a cultures values

produces a particular world view, a total
framework which provides an integrated
conception of reality.

A value takes a meaning only when it is related

to other values in particular.
Often a single value will be so central to a world
view that its presence influences all other
values.
e.g.: A core value in the U.S. (Francis L.K. Hsu)
self-reliance; taken from the Europeans
core value individualism

Values & World View

3.

Values are often explicit, as

anyone who has attended school
knows.

But never are all of cultures values out in

the open. Some are hidden or denied
because they do not square with other
ideals; others are simply not recognized.
Since everyone holds them, no one
questions them.

Values & World View

4.

Values may function to integrate

society.

The diverse institutions of family,

workgroup, legal system, political system
& religion might work against each other if
there were no underlying set of values
which gave meaning to each institution.

Values & World View

5.

Values may also function to

create/ represent conflicts in a
society.

It happens when different sectors of

culture & society change at different
rates of speed.
e.g.: the disputes between the Ku
Klux Klan & the Negroes in the U.S.

Kebudayaan
pengetahuan manusia sebagai makhluk
sosial, yang isinya ialah perangkat-perangkat
model-model pengetahuan, yang secara selektif
digunakan oleh para pendukung/ pelakunya
untuk mengintepretasi dan memahami
lingkungan yang dihadapi, dan digunakan
sebagai referensi atau pedoman untuk bertindak
(dalam bentuk kelakuan dan benda-benda
kebudayaan) sesuai dengan lingkungan yang
dihadapi. (Suparlan, 1986: 106)

Cultural Politics

The connection between politics and culture

becomes particularly apparent when we take a
macro view of the former: politics is comprised
of developments occurring within the state,
within society, and between state and society.

Since culture constitutes a societys shared

symbols, expressions and values, it has an
intimate connection with politics.

Cultural politics deals with the political

dimensions of culture, or, more specifically, with
the influence and role of culture within politics.

Cultural Politics

Culture, no doubt, is an important element in

political conduct. But it is one of the elements
at work.

In the new world, Huntington claims,

cultural identity is the central factor shaping
a countrys associations and antagonisms . .
. [It] defines the states place in world politics,
its friends, and its enemies.

Cultural Politics

Culture is, no doubt, an important element in

influencing domestic politics and regional
and international alignments.

It is not, however, the phenomenon that

overwhelms and/or determines politics,
whether domestic or international.

Cultural Politics

State policies, to take one example of what

belongs to the domain of politics, can and
often do influence the formulation and
expression of public preferences and
prejudices (culture), which in turn shape elite
or mass purchasing habits (economics).
This flow of influence can go from any
direction within and between these and other
related disciplines, and the possibilities of
mutual interaction, interference and influence
are limitless.

Cultural Politics

There are two cultures, local and global, and

each has its own adaptive and material subcomponents.

How deeply cultures converge or differ from

one part of the globe to another is as much a
product of scientific advancement and knowhow as it is a result of state policies and
agendas.

Cultural Politics

There is no cultural universalism, no

impending clash. What determines where we
go culturally, who we identify with more
closely and with whom we have less in
common, our symbols, our tastes and
preferences, all depend on the politics of
culture, on how those in power indirectly
influence or perhaps directly package and
sell domestic and imported cultural products.